8 Hong Kong Virtual Banks Compared: Fees, Eligibility & Business Options

Hong Kong's digital-only banks have moved from novelty to normal. Eight institutions hold a digital banking licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and for a large share of residents and small companies they are now the default place to hold HKD.

But "virtual bank" is a loose label people keep using long after the regulator stopped using it, and the group is far less uniform than it looks. Some are strictly for personal use. A few will onboard a company in a day. Almost all of them will turn you away if you don't have a Hong Kong identity card.

This guide covers what these banks actually are, how the eight of them differ, what they charge, and where a licensed bank stops being the right answer for a business.

Key Takeaways

• There are eight licensed digital banks in Hong Kong, per the HKMA's official list as at 30 September 2026. The set has been stable for a while — the last major change was a rename, not a new entrant.
• The HKMA replaced the term "virtual bank" with "digital bank" in October 2024, updating its Guideline on Authorization of Virtual Banks accordingly. Both names still circulate; "digital bank" is the current regulatory wording.
• All eight are fully licensed banks under the Banking Ordinance. They take deposits, and eligible deposits are protected under the Deposit Protection Scheme up to HKD 800,000 per depositor per bank — raised from HKD 500,000 with effect from 1 October 2024.
• The category is mostly retail. Only a small number offer a business account at all, and those that do generally restrict eligibility to Hong Kong-incorporated companies whose directors or ultimate owners hold a Hong Kong or Mainland identity card.
• Eligibility, not fees, is the filter that decides most applications. Physical presence in Hong Kong and an HKID are the two recurring requirements.
• For cross-border businesses that cannot meet those requirements, or that collect revenue in currencies a digital bank doesn't handle well, a licensed bank is often the wrong instrument entirely.

What Are the Virtual Banks in Hong Kong?

"Virtual Bank" Is Now "Digital Bank"

The HKMA began licensing branchless, app-first banks in 2019. In October 2024 it renamed its Guideline on Authorization of Virtual Banks to the *Guideline on Authorization of Digital Banks*, and its published list now uses "digital banks" throughout.

The substance did not change. A digital bank in Hong Kong is a bank that holds a full banking licence but delivers its services through an app rather than a branch network. There is no separate, lighter licence. If you can hold a deposit there, they went through the same HKMA authorisation as any other bank.

This matters more than the naming suggests. Because the term "virtual bank" sounds like a category of fintech, readers often assume these institutions sit somewhere between a bank and a payment app. They don't. They are banks.

Are Digital Banks Safe?

Yes, in the specific sense that matters for deposits. All eight are licensed by the HKMA and are members of the Deposit Protection Scheme. Eligible deposits are protected up to HKD 800,000 per depositor per bank, a limit that was raised from HKD 500,000 effective 1 October 2024.

Two practical notes:

• The cap is per depositor, per bank, not per account. Spreading balances across two licensed banks doubles the protected amount.
• Protection covers eligible deposits. Investment products, funds, securities and insurance are outside the scheme — several of these banks now sell all three, and they are not covered.

Where digital banks genuinely differ from incumbents is not safety but scope: narrower product ranges, thinner support for complex corporate banking, and eligibility rules designed around the domestic market.

Who Actually Uses Them

Two groups, and they want different things.

Individuals use digital banks for the absence of minimum balance requirements, same-day onboarding, faster FPS payments, and savings rates that are frequently higher than those at branch banks.

Companies use them for speed. A traditional Hong Kong corporate account application can take weeks; livi Bank's own marketing notes that opening a new account at a traditional bank can take up to three months in the context of a government funding application. Digital banks compress that to a day or two — but only for companies that fit a fairly narrow profile.

Best Virtual Banks in Hong Kong at a Glance

Which Virtual Bank Is Best for Your Needs?

Best for Everyday Spending and Rewards

Mox is the strongest of the eight on the spending side. It was built around a debit/credit card experience rather than a deposit account, and its fee schedule reflects that: local JETCO ATM withdrawals are free, withdrawals on the Mastercard network cost HKD 20, and overseas Mastercard ATM withdrawals cost HKD 30 plus an FX handling fee.

Its published FX handling charge is 1.95% on foreign currency transactions, and currency conversion carries a fee of up to 2%. Those are the numbers in its General Fees and Charges schedule (version dated 260316, last updated 30 April 2026) — worth re-checking before you rely on them, because fee schedules in this category change quietly.

Best for Multi-Asset and FX

If your priority is holding and moving several currencies rather than spending, look at ZA Bank, Fusion Bank and ELE Bank. ZA Business advertises exchange and transfer services across 11 currencies, with time deposits in HKD, CNY and USD. ELE Bank and Fusion Bank also lead with FX rather than treating it as an add-on — Fusion covers HKD, CNY, USD, EUR, JPY and AUD.

ZA Business additionally shows its business rates alongside those of other designated banks inside its internet banking platform, which is a genuinely useful feature for anyone who has spent time negotiating FX spreads with a relationship manager.

Fusion Bank's distinguishing claim is that it was the first digital bank in Hong Kong to offer foreign exchange at all, and it remains the cheapest to open — HKD 100.

Best for Savings and Time Deposits

For HKD savings, livi Bank publishes a tiered rate: 0.45% p.a. on the first HKD 500,000 and 0.65% p.a. on the remainder (effective 21 December 2024). On time deposits, its HKD board runs up to 1.0% p.a. on a 6-month tenor for deposits of HKD 10,000 or above (effective 5 June 2025). Both are published as indicative and subject to the rates quoted in the app.

Treat published rates as a snapshot, not a promise. Digital banks in Hong Kong adjust deposit rates frequently, and the rate that appears in a comparison table is usually a few weeks out of date.

Best for SMEs and Startups

livi Business is the fastest route if you qualify. It is 100% online, requires no documents to apply, targets approval within 24 hours and activation within one day, and explicitly welcomes newly established companies with no operating history. The catch is in the eligibility line: the company should be established by Hong Kong residents or Mainland ID holders, and the ultimate beneficial owner, director or ultimate controller should hold a HKID or a Mainland Resident Identity Card.

ZA Business is the broader product. Beyond the account itself it runs an SME financing loan (including a guarantee scheme loan under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme operated by HKMC Insurance Limited), a flexible revolving loan requiring no collateral, and a USD revolving facility aimed specifically at cross-border e-commerce businesses, where credit is assessed partly on e-commerce sales data rather than physical collateral.

Ping An Digital Bank is the one most squarely aimed at SMEs, with a commercial banking line focused on cross-border trade and credit models built on commercial and alternative data rather than traditional financials. Its retail side advertises account opening from three minutes with no minimum balance requirement.

Best for Web3 and Digital-Asset-Adjacent Businesses

ZA Bank is the only one of the eight that has built a public position around this, describing itself as the first digital bank in Hong Kong to prioritise "Banking for Web3" and offering a dedicated account-opening path for Web3-related businesses. If your company operates in or around digital assets, this is the one to approach first — and the one most likely to ask hard questions during onboarding.

Best for Cross-Border Businesses That Don't Meet HKID Requirements

The biggest limitation of every virtual bank in Hong Kong is the HKID requirement: if your company is incorporated in Hong Kong but its directors or shareholders are based overseas, most digital banks will turn you away. This is not a criticism — it is the trade-off for minutes-long onboarding with no documents.

If this is your situation, a licensed digital bank was probably never going to work for you. What you actually need is a way to collect payments from overseas customers and pay suppliers across borders without opening a local bank account in every market.

PhotonPay is built for exactly this cross-border use case:

• Open a multi-asset account without a Hong Kong bank account. Apply using your existing company's incorporation documents. There is no requirement for a director or beneficial owner to hold a Hong Kong identity card, no branch visit, and no need to be physically in Hong Kong to operate the account.
• Get local receiving details so customers pay at local cost. Your customers pay you through local rails in their own currency, rather than sending an international wire — which means the amount that arrives is the amount they sent, with no correspondent bank deduction taken out along the way.
• Hold one balance and pay out across corridors. Collect in several currencies, convert only what you need, and pay suppliers, contractors and teams from the same balance instead of opening and maintaining a separate account in every market you operate in. Global payouts can run across both traditional banking rails and stablecoin rails, which is what allows a single funding balance to reach suppliers in multiple markets efficiently.

Open your multi-asset business account today and start getting paid in the currencies your customers already use.

One distinction matters: PhotonPay is not a bank. Photon Dance (Hong Kong) Limited operates under a Money Service Operator licence (No. 15-04-01638) granted by the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department. It does not hold a banking licence, funds held with it are not deposits, and they are not covered by the Deposit Protection Scheme. For a business that needs a regulated deposit account, a licensed bank is the right answer. For a business that needs to move and manage money across currencies, the two solve different problems and are often used together.

Virtual Bank Comparison: What Should You Look At?

Eligibility — The Filter That Decides Almost Everything

Price comparisons are largely pointless until you clear this bar. The recurring requirements across the category:

• A Hong Kong identity card. Universal for personal accounts and, at livi Business, extended to the company's beneficial owner, director or ultimate controller (HKID or Mainland Resident Identity Card).
• Physical presence in Hong Kong. Ping An Digital Bank states its banking services are available to visiting customers only when they are physically in Hong Kong.
• Age 18 or above.
• Non-US person status in some cases. Fusion Bank's account-opening terms specify Hong Kong identity card holders aged 18 or above who are non-US persons.
• A Hong Kong-incorporated company for business accounts.

If your company was incorporated in Hong Kong but its directors and shareholders are, say, British or Singaporean, this is where the process stops. That is not a criticism of these banks — it is the practical consequence of building an onboarding flow that can be completed in minutes with no documents.

Fees — What They Charge, and What They Don't

Digital banks in Hong Kong are generally cheap, and several publish no minimum balance requirement: Ping An Digital Bank states no minimum balance requirement, and ELE Bank states no account management fee and no minimum deposit.

The charges that do appear tend to cluster in the same places:

Confirm anything you intend to rely on against the bank's current published fee schedule. These figures move, and they are corridor-specific.

Deposit Rates and Minimum Balance

Covered above for livi. The general pattern across the category: tiered savings rates that reward larger balances, time deposits that pay noticeably more than savings, and no minimum balance requirement for the basic account.

Payment Rails

This is where the difference between a digital bank and a traditional bank is smallest. Hong Kong's Faster Payment System (FPS) is available across the category and is the default for HKD — and, at livi Business, for CNY too. USD typically moves over RTGS/CHATS rather than instantly. Outward international payments go over the same rails as at any other bank, with the same correspondent bank deductions.

App, Support and Limits

All eight are app-first, and for several the app is the only channel. There is no branch to walk into and, in practice, no relationship manager to escalate to. For straightforward retail use that is a feature. For a business with unusual payment flows — a large outbound transfer that needs explaining, a counterparty a screening engine flags — it can become a real constraint.

How to Open a Virtual Bank Account

What You Need

For a personal account: a Hong Kong identity card, a Hong Kong mobile number, and to be physically in Hong Kong at the time of application. Some banks ask for proof of address.

For a business account, expect:

• Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate
• Constitutional documents (Articles of Association)
• Identification and address proof for directors, shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners
• Board resolution authorising the account opening
• Business proof — invoices, contracts, or a business plan for newly incorporated companies

ZA Business provides both an Account Opening Guide and a Document Checklist for Business Account Opening on its site, which is a useful reference even if you apply elsewhere.

The Process

1. Download the bank's app and select account opening.
2. Scan your HKID and complete facial recognition.
3. Complete the questionnaire — employment or business details, source of funds, purpose of the account.
4. Submit. Most banks complete automated checks within minutes.
5. Activate and fund the account.

At livi Business, applicants first need a personal liviSave account, then switch to livi Business within the app; company members can subsequently be invited to join.

How Long It Takes

Personal accounts are typically opened the same day, often within minutes. Ping An Digital Bank advertises account opening from three minutes in standard cases with no additional information required. Business accounts take longer: ZA Business states an application can be completed in as fast as six minutes with the account opened in as fast as one working day; livi Business targets approval within 24 hours and activation within one day.

Both are "as fast as" figures for clean cases. Applications that require manual review take considerably longer — which is precisely why it is worth applying to a digital bank and a traditional bank in parallel if your business cannot afford to wait.

Virtual Banks vs Traditional Banks

Where Digital Banks Win

• Onboarding speed. Minutes to a day, against weeks.
• No minimum balance. Several publish none at all.
• Transparent, simple pricing. Fewer line items, and fee schedules you can actually read.
• Usable apps. This is a genuine gap at many incumbents.
• Deposit rates. Frequently higher on HKD savings and time deposits.

Where Traditional Banks Still Win

• Complex corporate banking. Trade finance, letters of credit, receivables financing, multi-entity cash management.
• Non-resident and foreign-owned companies. If your directors don't hold a HKID, a traditional bank with a real onboarding team is more likely to work with you than an automated flow is.
• Broad currency coverage and established correspondent networks.
• Relationship management. Someone who can pick up the phone when a payment is stuck.
• Credit. Larger facilities, and a wider range of secured lending.

Which Should You Choose?

For personal banking, a digital bank is a straightforward yes for most Hong Kong residents — and there is no reason to close a traditional account to have one.

For business, run both in parallel. Use a digital bank for day-to-day HKD and CNY receipts over FPS and as a backup account; keep a traditional bank for anything that needs a human. livi Bank markets its business account partly as a backup facility for exactly this reason.

FAQ

Are virtual banks in Hong Kong safe?

Yes. All eight hold a full banking licence from the HKMA, which means they meet the same authorisation standards as branch banks. Eligible deposits are protected under the Deposit Protection Scheme up to HKD 800,000 per depositor per bank. Investment products, funds and insurance sold through these banks are not covered.

Can a foreigner open a virtual bank account in Hong Kong?

Generally no. Every one of the eight requires a Hong Kong identity card and physical presence in Hong Kong at the time of application. Some, such as Fusion Bank, additionally restrict accounts to non-US persons. Visitors who are physically in Hong Kong may be able to open an account at some banks — Ping An Digital Bank states this explicitly — but non-residents applying from overseas are outside the target profile.

Can I open a virtual bank account for my company?

Only at three of the eight: ZA Bank, livi Bank and Ping An Digital Bank. Expect the company to be Hong Kong-incorporated, and at livi Business specifically, for the ultimate beneficial owner, director or ultimate controller to hold a HKID or Mainland Resident Identity Card.

What is the difference between a virtual bank and a digital bank?

Nothing substantive. The HKMA renamed its Guideline on Authorization of Virtual Banks to the Guideline on Authorization of Digital Banks in October 2024. "Virtual bank" is the older term and remains in wide use; "digital bank" is the current regulatory wording.

Is my money protected if a virtual bank fails?

Eligible deposits are protected up to HKD 800,000 per depositor per bank under the Deposit Protection Scheme — the same protection as at any other licensed bank in Hong Kong. Balances held as investments, or held with a non-bank payment provider, are not covered.